081 The Impending War

For Kellen, once the supplies from both the Wraiths and Moonworship City had arrived, there was little suspense left regarding his unification of the goblins. What suspense could possibly remain? Over a hundred Tier Two corpses, more than a dozen Tier Three remains. Coupled with nearly three hundred thousand units of territory energy, even Kellen himself couldn’t imagine how he might lose at this point. So, after extorting a generous payment from the people of Moonworship City, he waved them away without further ado.

Of course, on this matter, the Wraiths and Lyon had a different view. In their eyes, Kellen’s demise was imminent, so Moonworship City didn’t bother to haggle with him and withdrew immediately after retrieving their people. Old Jack, however, seemed to want to say something to Kellen before leaving, but those accompanying him to transport the supplies kept a watchful eye on him. Clearly, though Old Jack had been released, he was still under strict surveillance.

As for Kellen, the truth was that if he wished, he could have spoken to Old Jack—after all, this was his domain. But Kellen didn’t bother; there was simply no need. Old Jack was obviously being tightly controlled by Lyon at this point, and Kellen wasn’t sure he could trust him—so he ignored the matter entirely.

In the end, Old Jack simply nodded to Kellen, then left with Cliff, following the supply convoy. Old Jack did pause in Dole Village on the way out, met with the masked woman, and gave her some instructions before departing.

Kellen had no time to concern himself with Old Jack’s affairs now. Thanks to the Bloodclaw Eagle, he knew perfectly well that from the previous day onward, Wraith scouts had been watching his territory from outside. Undoubtedly, now that Old Jack’s group had left, Kellen was about to face a fierce battle.

But this was precisely the battle Kellen anticipated.

Almost the moment Old Jack’s party left Kellen’s domain, forces began to gather, both within Goblin Forest and inside Moonworship City. In the forest, it wasn’t the Wraiths but the goblins themselves who were amassing strength. The Wraiths were shrewd; though intending to strike at Kellen, they had no plan to do so directly. After Kellen’s repeated massacres of several goblin tribes, goblin hatred for him was already at its peak, and they had been planning his extermination for days.

The Wraiths, then, needed only to pull a few strings to control the timing of the goblins’ assault on Kellen.

As the goblins gathered their might in the forest, Moonworship City was also mustering its own forces. This time, Lyon personally led an elite contingent, and after thorough preparations, they marched out of the city with great fanfare. It was obvious they intended to seize this opportunity to make a move.

Meanwhile, Kellen, after Old Jack’s group departed, busied himself with constructing simple defensive works around his territory. In fact, these fortifications had been in progress since the day Kellen took Cliff. That day, besides subduing Cliff, he had also obtained all sorts of tools from Dole Village, thanks to Ogron. Using those tools, over the next three days, Kellen and his undead minions built various simple structures—the log cabin where he’d met Dima had been constructed then.

Over three days, with Kellen leading hundreds of undead, they managed to erect a crude fence of less than five hundred meters, along with some simple traps as defensive measures. The Wraiths’ scouts, watching from afar, scoffed at these fortifications. They looked presentable on the surface, but would collapse at the slightest touch.

Moreover, Kellen’s undead were clearly not cut out for this sort of labor. Not only did they produce nothing but a shoddy mess after three days’ work, they also stripped the territory of every last tree, leaving heaps of unused materials scattered outside the fence.

To the Wraiths’ scouts, Kellen’s proud construction efforts were nothing but a farce. They eagerly awaited the coming moment, imagining Kellen’s expression when his three days of labor were swept away with ease.

And it wouldn’t be long before their wish was fulfilled.

Forty kilometers from Kellen’s territory, over ten thousand goblins had been assembled. These were not all from the Iron Ore Mine Tribe; in truth, less than a fifth belonged to that group. The rest were gathered by the Iron Ore Mine Tribe from across Goblin Forest.

The Wraiths understood how to manipulate the goblins, but the Iron Ore Mine Tribe was no fool either—they knew how to leverage outside help.

Faced with an enemy who had wiped out several goblin tribes at a stroke, they were naturally compelled to rally the entire forest’s strength against Kellen.

Yet their aim was not solely Kellen. Among the three powers now present in Goblin Forest, Kellen wished to exterminate the goblins and allow the Wraiths to seize control. The Wraiths and Lyon, meanwhile, wanted to eliminate Kellen as a destabilizing force, but also wished to weaken the goblin tribes.

As for the goblins, though they’d accepted the Wraiths thanks to Silver Hand’s mediation, they had no real affection for them—indeed, they would have liked nothing better than to destroy the Wraiths altogether.

One should never underestimate goblin cunning. Their chieftain of the Iron Ore Mine Tribe knew full well that if the Wraiths were allowed to remain in the forest, especially if border trade was established, then within ten years Goblin Forest might well need a new name.

Kellen’s arrival had given him a rare opportunity. After gathering his forces—over ten thousand goblins—his first move was not to attack Kellen, but to seek out the Wraiths’ leader and demand that the entire Wraith force participate in the battle.

By this point, anyone could see that the goblins intended to eliminate both Kellen and the Wraiths in one stroke. Yet the Wraiths agreed readily, bringing several hundred members to join the goblin host against Kellen.

With the Wraiths’ hundreds added to their ranks, the campaign against Kellen officially began.

Three factions, each with nearly identical ambitions, now prepared to clash. What was most intriguing was that each believed, with absolute confidence, that they would emerge the ultimate victor.

One might think this would add suspense to the coming war—but in truth, there was none at all. From the moment they resolved to attack Kellen’s territory, the outcome had already been sealed.